Generous Tulsans Make Huge Impact On Village In Ghana

Oklahoma's Own are helping out the children in a village in Ghana.

Lisa Tresch is six months into a life changing journey that started with a trip to Ghana to see a family friend.

After she saw the village of Ankaase, especially the children in the school, she felt she had to help.

"And it's overwhelming and you think, ‘What can one person do, or two people do?'" Tresch said.

She decided to help the local seamstresses there by bringing back and selling some of the bags they made.

She also brought back beads from the village to make and sell necklaces, but she wanted to do more, and help the village school get a few computers.

She got six laptops donated for the trip.

"It's six computers and that was fairly easy for us to get. When people knew the need, they responded, but for them, this was huge," Tresch said.

But Tresch had no idea how huge, until she got to the village, where hundreds of people were waiting for her.

"There was a band playing. It was a parade," Tresch said. "And we get to the place where the celebration is—three tents were set up and the elders and chief are walking in, some guy is holding his umbrella. It was very surreal, and I had this feeling of, ‘How did I get here?' But it was a very much a feeling of this is where I'm supposed to be, because of the people here who gave generously."

It turned into a two hour celebration, with the treasured computers under a white sheet.

When they were unveiled, the village cheered and immediately set them up in the school, where before children only had drawings of computers.

Tresch said the gratitude they had was amazing and the experience was unreal.

"And so our hearts came back just wrapped around this village," Tresch said.

Tresch said she hopes to go back next year to help some more.

Check out armsaroundankaase.org and onegoodstory.me for more on the relationship between Tulsa and this village in Ghana.